


All I've Lost In The Fight To Protect It

by Ellienerd14



Series: With The Power of the Storm (Katara is the Avatar AU) [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Avatar Katara (Avatar), Canon-Typical Violence, Episode: s03e16 The Southern Raiders, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: Sokka is nine years old when the black snow falls and the Fire Nation first attack. In one day, he loses his sister and his Mother.Now, on the way to reunite with Katara four years later, he reflects on the day that everything changed.The day they discovered Katara was the Avatar.
Relationships: Hakoda/Kya (Avatar), Katara & Kya (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar)
Series: With The Power of the Storm (Katara is the Avatar AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2118186
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	All I've Lost In The Fight To Protect It

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'Eight' by Sleeping At Last

_'God, that was so long ago, long ago, long ago..._

_I was little, I was weak and perfectly naive_

_And I grew up too quick  
_

_Now you won’t see all that I have to lose_

_And all I've lost in the fight to protect it'_

_(Eight - Sleeping At Last)_

* * *

“Sokka, are you alright?” 

Hakoda approached his son, leaning on the ship railing besides him. 

Sokka held out a hand, revealing a handful of black ashes that had fallen as they passed a fire nation ship. 

Darkness, or some other lucky factor, had meant the ship had not attacked. But the whole crew had been on edge and Sokka had been banished to the safety of the medical bay until they were sure the danger had passed. Hakoda was surprised he had snuck out unnoticed onto the deck. 

It didn’t seem to be the ship passing that bothered him. 

“Black snow,” Sokka said, “it just reminds me of that day.” 

* * *

Katara flung another snowball at Sokka’s head, her childish laugh ringing as it hit him right in the nose. He was sure she must be using the water magic to cheat. It was an unfair advantage! 

“No fair!” He scooped up more snow and flung at her as she ducked, laughing. 

She stuck out her tongue, reaching for more snow when something stopped her. 

“Look,” she held out the clump of snow she had grabbed, flickered with black. 

They had been warned about the black snow, in old warrior’s stories. They were supposed to hide and Katara had run off to find their Mother. Sokka had tried to help, half-hidden behind their Father, clutching a club so heavy he could barely hold it. 

He had thought Katara would be safe, hidden away in their igloo with their Mother. 

“Just go,” Kya had pleaded, “Sweetheart, find your Dad. He’ll protect you. I can deal with this.” 

“But-” Katara’s hand was raised and small specs of snow hovered by her. She dropped it as Kya shook her head. “Ok. I’ll get Dad.” 

“So then,” the soldier had said, a coolness in his voice, “you’re the last waterbender.” 

“Yes.” She hung her head. “Take me.” 

“Prove it,” the soldier ordered, kicking a bucket of water next to him. “We’d hate to come this far for nothing.” 

Kya had acted rashly, kicking the bucket back and trying to run. “Hakoda-” 

The soldier had been faster, gripping her arm tight. 

“Well then, that answered my question.” 

“Stop. Hakoda!” 

The soldier had dragged her to the centre of the chaos. Cold steel pressed against her neck. 

“Mom!” Sokka yelled. 

“Kya-” 

The soldier had spoken calmly. “Now, if only the real water bender would stand up and we could leave without any bloodshed. Unless…” The gleam of the knife meant the rest of the threat went unsaid. 

“Don’t look,” Hakoda had whispered, an arm around Sokka’s small shoulders. 

“No volunteers?” 

Katara had shrieked, an awful noise that silenced the whole village. And then her eyes had glowed. 

Sokka wasn’t sure how much Katara remembered of that day, but he was haunted by the way she had floated in the air, her hair flowing, eyes white, like a vengeful spirit. She had acted as one too. The entire raiding fleet had been killed in a flurry of attacks that seemed impossible for his small, sweet sister to be responsible. 

Blasts of air that knocked soldiers to their knees. Sharp blades of ice that had left a trail of slumped bodies. Chunks of the cliff that had sunk the ship. Fire blocked and redirected. 

And then Kya had untangled herself from the body of the soldier, unhurt apart from a small drip of blood at her neck. 

She had found words when none of them had been able to. 

“Katara, sweetheart, it's okay now. You can stop. You’re safe.” 

She had fallen from the sky into their mother’s arms and suddenly Sokka could breathe again. Seeing his sister asleep and cradled in their Mother’s arms after so much power, so much destruction… 

Sokka was just glad she was safe. 

* * *

“Katara has never seemed smaller to me than that moment,” Hakoda admitted, “too young to understand what she was.” 

“She slept for so long after,” Sokka said. “I didn’t want her to wake up and see what she had done.” 

“It wasn’t her fault.” 

Sokka sighed, staring out at the stars. “I know. But she had such a big heart.” 

“She still does,” he replied, gently. “You’ll see soon.” 

“I wish-” he swallowed, “I wish she didn’t have to leave.” 

“It was for the good of us all. The tribe, Katara-” 

“You never told me this when I was younger.” Sokka’s tone wasn’t accusatory, just sad. 

He had suffered more than anyone else in the tribe, losing both his sister and best friend on the same day. On a day when there had been no good choices, only quick ones, for the greater good, Hakoda feared that he had made the wrong one with Sokka. 

“I’m sorry.” It was all he had. 

“I know,” Sokka replied. 

Which was not  _ ‘I forgive you,’  _ Hakoda noted painfully. 

* * *

“The timing matches up.” Kya stroked her daughter’s hair, still clinging to her, hours later. “The last Avatar would have been eighty when she was born. And Katara came too early. Even as a baby I told you she had a fighting spirit.” 

Hakoda had been pacing the length of the igloo for an hour, but his nervous energy remained. “Still, our Katara, the Avatar?” 

“You saw what she did.” 

“She’s too young. They wait till teenagehood to reveal the next Avatar - even to themselves.” 

“The world needs her now.” Kya touched the scar on her neck. “We needed her.” 

“She can’t stay here.” 

She nodded, looking resigned. “I know. But where can she go?” 

“Take her to our sister tribe. It’ll be a few days until the Fire Nation sends more soldiers. Weeks, if we get lucky. We’ll act as if they already took away our last water bender. No one will know the Avatar was ever here.” 

Kya nodded. “They weren’t looking for the Avatar.” 

“If she does that again, if there’s even a single survivor and word gets to the Fire Lord-” 

Kya’s grip around Katara tightened. “They hunted down the last Avatar her whole life. They massacred the air benders. I will not let them hurt Katara.” 

Hakoda kissed Kya, gentle but bittersweet. They did not say goodbye, not even as they hastily packed. 

Not even when she was sitting in a small canoe, a sleepy Katara clutched at her chest for lack of space. 

“Look after Sokka,” Kya said, because goodbye was too raw at that moment. 

“Look after Katara. Our daughter will protect the world. But first, we will protect her.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! A lot of notes to go here so:   
> -This is my first ATLA fic, so I hope I got characterisation right!!  
> -This is going to be part of a bigger series with Katara as the Avatar, so I changed a few details to help set up that story.   
> -Kya lives! Because you can still have 'the fire nation destroyed my family angst without killing her.   
> -Aang was not the Avatar in this au and will appear later on
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are amazing!   
> Tumblr - @bazwillendinflames


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